Reality Relapse
by N.S WAND
Summary: The war was about to be determined and the allied shinobi forces are seemed to be losing. Naruto runs desparately to stop the tsukuyomi from starting but... It seems he had failed... Or did he? What do you get when two very powerful jutsu colide? The konoha 9 are about to find out the hard way. NaruHina and other pairings.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi, this is (what I'm hoping) going to be a long-running fanfic. I really put a lot of thought into this one so please review- I want to know whether I should continue it or not. I hope you'll like it.**

**Let me know if there are any spelling\grammar mistakes and I will have them fixed. Enjoy =)**

**And I don't own Naruto. (Wish I had though... that would be like... awesome)**

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**Prologue**

The red light that covered the battlefield started glowing so bright that to Naruto it had almost seemed as if the world was turning white.

He looked up to where Madara and Obito stood triumphly, and a last wave of adrenaline went through his veins. Pictures of his friends and family flashed threw his mind as he exploded into a bright yellow light and dashed straight to the source of the red light- right to the jubi's huge eye. Quickly forming a humongous rasenshuriken in his chakra hand and slamming it threw the red, tomoe filled eye- and the world exploded around him.

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**Chapter 1 - six**

Naruto felt heavy, heavy and tired, exhausted to be exact. 'What the fuck happened? Am I dead?' he thought. 'No, death wouldn't be so uncomfortable. Probably…'

He then tried to open up his eyelids with more than a bit of difficulty if he had to say so himself. He looked forwards only to find Iruka sensei glaring at him from up close, his face stretched with irritations, nose trails flared and eyes cold with hatred. He jumped in his chair and almost fell backwards, but managed to balance himself in the last moment. He heard kids' laughter around him. That was one scary wake up he did not see coming. If his memory served him right he knew what was coming after that look Iruka sensei gave him. At least after every single time he saw it as a kid…

"NARUTO!" the familiar scream echoed threw his ears. 'Yep, here it was….'

Strangely enough, even in his teens Iruka's screams still seemed to give him a shiver down the spine whenever he thought he was getting caught doing something bad. Though he hadn't heard it in years… yeah- something fishy was defiantly going on around here.

"Up on your feet Naruto! There's no sleeping in this class!"

'Class? - Yeah right,' Naruto looked around 'this is my class… how the fuck did I get here? I'm so foggy I can barely remember what happened! Fuck…'

He decided to stand up and listen to Iruka instead of starting an unwanted argument. Right now he wasn't really in the mood for an argument with Iruka sensei. Besides- he first had to get his shit together, remember how he got here and what the fuck was going on for kami's sake…

As he stood up though, he noticed another strange thing; it was as if he wasn't his own height, nor was his strength was the same. Looking down he saw himself dressed with khaki pants and an orange t-shirt with an Uzumaki swirl on it- clothes he used to wear when he was really young- like, before he was eight… 'Well things just keep getting weirder and weirder….' He thought bitterly.

He then decided to try and sum-up what he knew so far: So… so far- he woke to see a hateful, pig faced Iruka- yes, he kind of looked like a pig with that expression, in a middle of a class filled with young academy kids- the specific ones he used to learn with. And, aw yeah- he was probably one of those academy kids…. He didn't know what happened or how he got there and what the fuck was going on. So he decided on the rational thing to do- ask.

He raised his hand looking for permission. Iruka sensei didn't look too excited about doing so, but let Naruto speak anyways.

"Um… Iruka sensei?" he said. He marveled at how young and weak his voice sounded but still continued. "What's going on here? I mean…" Naruto started, suddenly remembering some details from before he woke up "wasn't there a battle a few minutes ago?"

Iruka and the class full of children looked at him strangely.

"I'm not sure what you mean by 'what's going on' but I can assure you there was no battle here what so ever." Iruka looked somewhat confused somewhat annoyed "and Also Naruto… Next time you fall asleep in my class, please try to separate reality from your dreams." He heard chuckles around him once again today… it made him feel sad and angry- as if everybody saw him for nothing but a joke and a loser once again. It also made him understand that as of now- he had practically no one to ask about what was going on here… he couldn't sense any of the other sensei around.

But another thing that caught his mind was that there were a few kids that didn't laugh- he noticed the rookie 9's, his friends' kid forms staring at him As if asking 'you remember it too, ne?' so he decided he'll try to talk to them after the class. Maybe they knew something or figured out something that he didn't. Maybe they already know something he doesn't know about it too. But maybe, they're wondering what just happened like he did. Then again- the meaning of their looks could have just been his imagination, there's a chance they don't remember anything at all. He'll have to check it out carefully or they might think he had gone crazy.

For now- he decided to wait until the lesson will end and try to think about it in the meantime, try to remember some details, maybe even have a little chat with the fox.

00000000

During the 3 hours it took school to end, Naruto managed to remember most of what happened beforehand and have a small chat with Kurama- who, sadly didn't know too much either. He seemed just as confused at first as to what was happening, which only made Naruto feel more at loss for what to do.

There were a few main things that confused him though, after he remembered what happened he continued to consult with Kurama about what was going on. If they guessed right- this was the infinite tsukuyomi. It made sense really, 'cause, well- nothing in this place, right now really made sense. What else could it be? But then again, he was almost a hundred percent sure he was fast enough to stop it- that explosion did happen! The Justus's collided and exploded, which meant that the "moon's eye plan" should have gone down the drain

Also Kurama said that this place did not feel like a genjutsu to him. not only that but he thought that even if this was the tsukuyomi than he didn't understand why would Naruto turn into his child form, why he could still remember what happened, why he's not dead and he himself is still stuck in him and way it seemed like everyone seemed to hate him… in the tsukuyomi every person was supposed to live happily and in peace. The conclusion was that it is most logical that this would be the tsukuyomi- but there is no logic in that this would be the tsukuyomi.

To say in the least- Naruto was confused.

'Ugh!' nothing here made any sense to him! Basically- this whole 'thinking and consulting' thing only confused him more right know. He knew that he had to check if his friends have figured something that he didn't, and to do that he'll have to check if they even remember what happened and that they weren't supposed to be academy students first.

000000

Apparently, it didn't take much to get to figure out if he could approach the others or not and get to talk with them as they were actually waiting for him to arrive outside the class. They all looked somewhat weird- little kids with adult expressions on their faces. Then again- he probably looked like that too. Maybe…

He checked that there was no one around any longer and seeing that the coast was clear, he started making his way to them. He couldn't risk other people hearing this conversation.

"So Naruto …." Sakura was the one to talk "I guess you don't have a clue about what's happening here too. Eh…"

"No, not really…" he admitted "Kyubi and I guess that the tsukuyomi got us but I was sure I made it and blew the damn thing up and Kyubi doesn't think that some of the things that go on here fit with what the tsukuyomi was supposed to do… so I guess I got nothing either."

"You did" Sasuke interfered "I saw it with my sharingan, that thing defiantly exploded. There's no way this is tsukuyomi- he didn't complete it, I saw that you made it in time. Besides, I have the sharingan- if this was a genjutsu I would know. But this isn't it dobe."

The rest nodded in agreement- apparently it didn't feel like genjutsu to them either…

"Then what do you suppose it is then?! " he yelled. Maybe he shouldn't have yelled, but between all of the stress that was building inside him today he couldn't really hold it back anymore.

"Naruto! You don't have to yell you know?!" Sakura then decided to hit him on the head.

"Hn…." He heard Sasuke grunt.

And Shikamaru sigh and continued "it might sound troublesome but…" he did a small pause as if trying to digest the words he was about to say himself "if I take what you and Sasuke said, and what I managed to figure out alone so far I'd have to say… we're probably back in the past, In our old bodies too. The war, Akatsuki, everything with Orochimaru, even the Uchiha massacre - none of it probably even happened yet."

The 9 fell silent. There was a strange tension and shock going through them all as they ran through possibilities.

"So…?" Kiba spoke, cutting through the tension "what do we do now?"

Naruto was now on his way to his apartment. The 9 all went to their homes to try to think alone on what to do if they had to stay here or how to come back. They all knew that while a change can be a good thing- staying here might risk too much if they make a mistake.

But they also knew that this could be their second chance; they could stop so many bad things from happening before they even began. If they played it out right this could be a gift! But then again… going back would probably be their best option… that is, if they didn't change anything already. Or if they'll even find a way back- nothing was guaranteed.

So they decided to go home for now and think about it and in the meantime also try to find a justu that would fix the problem too- which really didn't seem likely given the fact that even with Sasuke's sharingan they couldn't figure out why exactly the explosion sent them here anyways.

Naruto sighed and continued to walk down the street.

It didn't take long for him to realize that getting used to being a six year old again wasn't going to be any fun; his body was annoyingly weak. He knew he'll need a lot of training to get it back into shape. That wasn't the real thing that bugged him about this though- he didn't hate training that much… he actually liked it.

No- what bothered him was how defenseless and pathetic he felt- surly if he was attacked now, even if it was just a fresh out of the academy genin, he would lose. He couldn't count on himself, not even to protect his own friends- and he hated that feeling, he knew that he was useless. Heck, he couldn't even walk right- he would make a misguided step every once in a while because he's muscle memory and sensual perspective would collide. But as long as he didn't think too much and only relied on his muscle memory he found out he was pretty much fine- it wasn't easy doing it though.

His chakra control was quite bad too as far as he could measure. Not as much as it was when he was really six years old, but a lot worse than it was before he was sent here.

All of it made him feel really depressed. The hate glares he got from the villagers didn't help much either… it really would be hard getting back to getting glared all the time. Thinking about it- at this time he didn't even have Iruka sensei on his side, he didn't even go to Ichiraku's once yet, only jiji – 'just a minute…' and then the realization hit him, 'that's right! Jiji was still alive at this point of time!' - Only he was there for him back then… er…. Now? Never mind…. Anyways- he was really thankful that he's friends were with him after realizing that otherwise he would've had only one other person that he could trust to help him hear.

He reached his home only to open the door and find it in a complete mess. Don't take this the wrong way- even in his teen years he was NOT an organized person, but apparently, his 6 year old self- was a complete mess! There was so much mess it even bothered him….

He went to his small kitchen and took out a glass of water to drink. While doing so he noticed an envelope that was left on the kitchen's small table. It had money in it. 'jiji must have been here' Naruto thought to himself, he's old memories flooding back to him.

XxX

_He was six again in his mind. He was going back from the academy- just as he did today- only to find an empty, dirty house that could not respond to his coming home._

_As usual- he went to the table and took the monthly envelope of food and rent money; 'jiji must have been here and left again' he thought sadly. He then noticed a small note attached to the envelope and read it. He felt tears in his eyes as he took the note and shove it in his pocket, dashing outside swiftly._

_He walked down the emptier streets of Konoha until he arrived to a garden not too far from the Hokage Mountain-he had to be careful as people would try to hurt him ten times as much in this date. He went to the corner that no one ever came to, sat down and opened the note to read it again- tears floating in his eyes. 'Damn I wish he had stayed instead of giving me money!' he thought 'yet, I shouldn't be crying, it just shows me that jiji is thinking of me, Doesn't it? Besides he's just really busy so it makes sense he wouldn't stay or come, right?'_

_He's eyes traced the black letters that decorated the letter, reading it to himself again._

_"Happy birthday Naruto._"

It said

_"Sorry that I couldn't stay- I had argent business to take care of. It would keep me at work pretty late so I won't be able to see you today. I'm truly sorry._

_I put in some extra money in this month so that you can get yourself a present, buy yourself something nice okay?_

_Take care, Sandaime hokage"_

_'Another birthday alone' he couldn't help but thinking it to himself._

_Naruto then slowly wiped the tears running from his eyes and got up. He decided to do what he did whatever he was angry and sad- pull some pranks on Konoha's people. Also he knew that if he would pull a good one- they might even send him to jiji's office again. He sure hoped so… at least he'll get to see him on his birthday that way._

_So thus- he started to run back to the village, prank plans already forming in his head, a mask of a devilish grin forcing itself on his face._

_If the villagers saw him- he might as well be wearing a smile._

_XxX_

Naruto put the envelope back on the table. Fortunately- this one did not have a depressing note attached to it. He then crashed on his bed and stared at the ceiling. He was even more depressed now than before… 'danm those memories! I hate this!' he sighed and rolled on he's stomach, head laid down on his arms.

He closed he's eyes and wondered how the rest of the 9 were doing. He sure hoped for them that better than he was doing so far.

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**Please review! I really want to know how I did... (Or if this is any good...) **


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello everyone =) I like to thank you for all the reviews, favorites and follows. I really appreciate those =) it is always nice to hear that people are interested in what you write\think it's good =) **

**I would like to make a few things clear due to some of the reviews; it is only the original 9 that traveled back in time... Sai, lee, Tenten and Neji are not included for reasons i will reveal later. SPOILER to the manga! Sasuke is there because in the last chapters of the manga in was reveled that he had chosen to join the battle on the allied shinobi force's side SPOILER END! **

**As to the sharingan and the mangekyo you'll find out soon =)**

**Also if you find any grammar or spelling issues tell me- truth is English is not my first language... I do read mainly in English and speak it fluently but it doesn't mean I don't have problems with it...**

**if you have any criticism for the story please don't keep it to yourselves- good and bad! if an author won't get criticism every once in a while it will hurt his improvement... I do hope to get better at writing as time goes so I would appreciate every help offered =)**

**Thank you. Enjoy =)**

**Disclaimer- I don't own Naruto or any of the other characters. They are all kishimoto-sensei's **

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Chapter 2 – Struggle

Sasuke's day was not going very well so far. Unless you call: "waking as yourself only 10 years younger, weaker and without any coordination what so ever- 'well'".

He sure didn't.

He was on his way home now from the academy. Teams 7, 8 and 9 decided that whoever has access to sources of information about jutsu should research it and try to find a way back to their time- although, the chances to actually finding something we're probably very slim.

Even with the sharingan Sasuke couldn't manage to understand what exactly was it that caused them leap threw time. Or why was it just them who made the leap.

He did know though, that it was best for them to go back to their own time without changing anything- if it was possible… which meant, of course, that they all had to act as their 6 year old selves again. "Hn" Sasuke grunted at the idea. He wasn't too fond of this way, but it was necessary. He only hoped he would manage to hold back his emotions.

It was going to be a long day.

Sasuke reached the door of his house. He knew that once he was in, he would have to face them all again – him mother, father and… and Itachi. 'Well, it's not like pushing it any farther would do me any good…' he thought and placed his hand on the door knob, took a deep breath in and entered his house.

"I'm home" he called. Trying to sound as cheerful and childish as he possibly could, but it still sounded pretty fake to him.

"Welcome home Sasuke-kun" he heard his mother say. He was at first startled at the reply- as part of him even knowing they were home, was still not used to the gesture. His mother then came out of the kitchen and he saw her smiling at him warmly. "Had fun at school today?"

Sasuke felt a lump in his throat. Not trusting his voice he simply forced a smile to his lips and nodded.

"Good" his mother said cheerfully- though he could see she sensed that something was not just right with him. "Dinner will be ready in an hour. You can do as you like until then" she came to him, kissed the top of his head and walked back into the kitchen. Shouting a "don't be late" as she heard Sasuke run out the door.

As Sasuke ran outside he could feel the tears that he was fighting to hold back earlier running down his face.

He exited the Uchiha compound as quickly as his unstable six year old body let him and went to the only place his feet chose to take him- training ground seven.

He sat down at the border of the training ground with the forest and… how to put it? Broke down…..

It may have been the effect of him being in a six year old body, it might have been the shock from seeing one of his precious people alive again after so long, maybe it was just the damn frustration that followed him all day- he's first day back in Konoha. It was probably a combination of them all. But it didn't really matter what it was- he shouldn't cry! He's an elite Uchiha for kami's sake! The last Uchiha! Well, not so last now with all the other Uchiha still being alive and all… but still! Crying was showing weakness, and he was taught that an Uchiha should never show such weakness. He should never show such weakness.

He continued crying silently until he managed to calm himself down. 'Damn' he thought 'I thought I was already over their deaths…' apparently- he wasn't.

Sasuke just set there. Set in the familiar training ground where he first passed the bell test Kakashi gave them and became a true shinobi.

He sat there thinking until the sun started setting down.

He was no longer crying but he knew that he had to come back now, or his mother will start worry and come looking for him. He also knew that once he got home he will have to face not only he's dead mother, but dead father and brother too.

He may have already experienced what it would feel like to see them again on that short encounter with his mother but that did not mean he was sure he could hold up his emotions in front of them, at least not for too long.

He relaxed himself as much as possible and started to make his way back towards the Uchiha compound. By the time he had gotten to his house the sun had almost set completely.

He stood in front of the entrance to his house and took a deep breath again- this time preparing mentally for what was about to come, slowly turned the door knob, and once again entered his house.

No… Not house. This place where his family lived, where he had gone through the only truly happy and innocent time in his life... No, this was his home.

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Sasuke lay silently on his bad, hands stretched back; pillowing his head and his eyes closed as his mind was restlessly running threw the events of the day.

He did succeed, in fact, in not breaking down again in front of his family- even if just barely… the sock of seeing his father and Itachi again was indeed great. It was also warm and up lifting but, at the same time, seeing them was extremely…. Painful.

Being with his family again, having dinner, learning new jutsu, even arguing and fighting with them- it was all something he could just dream of before.

But now it was real- Itachi's teasing, he's mother's loving smile, and even his father's indifferent face. It was right there in front of him. And yet he had to go back, he'll have to lose them all over again.

He closed his eyes and tried to fall asleep to no success- thoughts and memories keeping him in his wake.

He remembered all the previous events before the annoying time travel thing happened- how he made his resolve to go to the battlefield and fight with his former comrades for his brother's sake, how he, the taka, Orochimaru and the previous hokage arrived at the battlefield, Naruto's resolved and happy smile as he welcomed him back as a brother and invited him to join the fight, the over-powering sensation that took over as he fought Madara, the amazing feeling of victory… and then the bitter taste of defeat- as their opponent's only grew stronger. Last was the disappointment- the disappointment in himself that his coming there did not matter a thing, that taking on Itachi's desire to protect Konoha did not matter. But now he had another chance, they had another chance- and they were going to throw it away!

Truthfully, Sasuke didn't know what to do, he was torn- not that he would ever show it… but it was reviving his brother's wish and maybe even saving him- a thing that Sasuke wished for dearly, against keeping the world as it was and not possibly changing it for the worse…. If Sasuke had to choose he would rather stay. But if leaving was the better option he'd rather get out of here as fast as possible- Before he no longer wanted to, or was no longer able to leave here. Before he'll get attached to them again. Well… get more attaches to them. And then leaving here, losing them again would simply be too painful.

So he and the others would have to find a way out of here fast, before that happened. 'Or' Sasuke silently wished 'decide to stay'.

00000000

Hinata was breathing hard. Her frail body covered in bruises as she kneeled in front of her father in exhaustion. "Stand" he ordered, he's byakugan a cold gaze upon here.

Hinata struggled to her feet and stood swaying slightly from side to side. Her father's gaze was boring into her, disappointment and disapproval visible within it. 'That's right…' she thought 'at this time he still hasn't completely given up on me' she thought with mixed feelings, as she knew that she shouldn't try to prove herself to him when she was to try and not change the way things were supposed to be going.

"Again" he's cold voice demanded, And Hinata charged once again.

An hour later hinata was taking a warm shower in order to give her body some time to relax.

At the training she had done extremely bad- taking almost all of the hits that were thrown at her and tripping over herself for no apparent reason. She could tell from his expression that her father felt she had done badly, she had felt that way too- her body was out of shape, moving in it was hard and she felt somewhat uncomfortable in doing so. She was unstable on her feet and a lot slower than she had been- most of the hits she had taken were the result of her thinking she was fast enough to dodge, but her body, that was slower than she had remembered refused to move at the correct speed to do so. Even her chakra seemed to have been a bit lacking - probably due to the lack of the physical energy her adult body used to have. The only thing that hadn't changed was the strength of her byakugan- it was as strong as it was before they had arrived here, and she was glad that there was at least one thing that remained relatively strong in her.

That is because Hinata knew that right now, probably even more than the rest of the 9, she was week.

Hinata also knew that for the most of the 9 posing as their 6 year old selves would not be hard- even she only had to basically shut up most of the time, act scared and insecure and stature every time she did decide speak. But since she was living with a clan that specialized in reading people and analyzing them, she also knew she was the one with the most risk at being discovered.

She finished showering, put her clothes on and went silently to her room, tying her hardest to be unnoticed- an effort that she knew had failed when she heard steps behind her.

"Hello Hinata-Chan" the person's voice had said "how was the academy and training today? Did you have fun?"

"Mo…mom" hinata stuttered, this time not so much in propose. She hadn't seen her mother in years. Not since she had died out of sickness when hinata was eight- probably not in a long time from now.

Hinata's heart felt as if it had stopped beating. She felt tears threatening to come out of her eyes and her mouth opening and closing in emotional shock. She had missed her mother- so much that it had hurt. Before she had died, the training, her father's disappointment in her, the pressure of being the clan heir- it was all bearable, all because her mother was there for her. When her mother had died though, Hinata that was already shy by nature seemed to close up even farther and turn even more insecure.

After that she also started messing up in her training more. Only after her mother died her father had completely lost hope in her.

Regaining her composure hinata swallowed and spoke shortly "yes, it it was ve-very fun today at at the a-academy" 'I need to go to my room' hinata thought solemnly while she tried to make the stuttering to sound more like a stutter instead of speaking with a ball of emotions and tears stuck down her throat.

"Good. And how did the training with your father go?" her mother- Hikari asked worryingly.

Hinata's face darkened as an immediate response- thinking about the training made her remember how week and useless she was right now.

Her mother- reading her perfectly just nodded as if saying 'I see'.

They were silent for a while- probably not a very long while but it seemed as if it was. It was always like this as far as hinata remembered- her mother and she never needed many words to communicate, they both had quiet personalities so they just never seemed to speak much.

"I'll see you in dinner than" her mother was the one to speak- as she probably sensed that hinata needed some time alone and wanted to break the tension.

When her mother disappeared behind the corner of the hall hinata continued to her room- trying to keep herself calm. Even though she was trained to do so, even more than most of the ninja, she now found it difficult.

She reached her room, entered it and closed the door behind her and then- so gracefully- collapsed on her bed. 'I wonder how Naruto-kun and the others are doing?' she thought as she buried her face into the pillows on her bed, sobbing quietly- releasing all of the tension and stress of the day.

She had almost wanted it to be a genjutsu after she saw her mother today. If she knew that her mother wasn't real it might have been easier leaving her behind to go back to what would have been "their world ".

But if she is real…. Hinata only knew that it was going to hurt. But even if she chose to stay it wouldn't matter much- one of the rules they had sat was that they would try not to change too much of the past, at least for now…. So even if she stayed, it was more than possible that her mother would still die. Even if she did try to change things her mother would probably still die.

"hinata-sama" a knock sounded on the door bringing her out of the being deep in thoughts "you are requested to go to dinner by your father. Please hurry" the sound of steps was running through the halls outside her room as the branch family member was leaving.

Hinata sighed as she sat up and turned to live to the dining hall- making sure no puffiness and tear trails remained on her face.

The sound of eating (and Hanabi's baby shrinks) was all that was heard as Hinata and her family had their meal. For some reason the air was unusually thick around the Hyuga table that evening. It all made hinata feel even more uncomfortable than she already was- sharing a table with your year old sister, dead mother and extremely strict and somewhat colder father than she was used to could do that to you.

Before attending the meal Hinata had already decided to ask her father if he knew anything about time related jutsu to find out if they had a family jutsu that might be related to it. If anyone would know- it was her father. Only if he didn't know she would go to the library herself.

"Fa-Father?" she mumbled in a low voice that was strong enough to only reach her father's ear.

Her voice seemed to have caught him unprepared, as he seemed quite surprised that the little girl had actually turned to him, his eye brows raised. He sent a look to her mother- that had seemed just as confused at Hinata's actions.

"Yes hinata?" Hiashi asked, his voice actually showing interest at what Hinata was just about to say.

"Today at the a-academy…." Hinata started, she needed a good cover story as to why she was asking, didn't she? "we studied about space & time re-related jutsu and we-we're ha-having a test about it to-tomorrow and I-I didn't really un-understand wha-what the teacher was sa-saing and and thought that… that maybe you cou-could help me with it?" she said it all with maybe a couple of breaths in between, mumbling the all thing, avoiding eye contact, making sure to stutter too… she did a mental dance as she marveled how well she can mimic her younger self- heck, she might even fooled her face reading father just now! Forget about being a ninja she should be an actor! Well, maybe not…. But… you get the point!

Her father looked at her with mixed feelings. It was probably because he's once completely silent girl that could not even answer HE'S questions properly had now asked him a question HERSELF but at the same time she said the all thing with a terrible stature and without even making the slightest eye contact- Hiashi didn't know if she was progressing or regressing…

"Unfortunately I do not know much about those jutsu exept that they are usually come in the form of seals…" he said and Hinata remembered to shrink a little at the sound of his voice.'Damn she was getting good at that!' "What I do know is that those seals are considered very complicated and are usually able to only wrap time in order to make it appear as if it had slowed down. Advanced techniques can even cause a small fracture in time sometimes, but those take a huge amount of chakra and therefore not many can perform them. Unfortunately this is not something that our clan or I have much ability in so I cannot give you much more information than that. Do you understand it now Hinata?"

Hinata simply nodded in agreement looking crestfallen. 'It just means that I'll have to try the library than…' she thought grimly. She hoped they could come back to their time quickly but research usually took time, and in that time, with them being here things could change- and not necessarily in a good way.

As Hinata dropped to her bed that day, she was so tired it didn't even take her half a second to fall asleep.

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The following morning the rookie 9 arrived early to the academy with only the exception of Naruto being late and running frantically into the class around noon screaming "I'm sorry Iruka sensei!" as loud as he possibly could.

The day in the academy went smoothly, although, not so surprisingly, all of the 9 found learning what they already knew extremely boring- A thing that caused Shikamaru, Naruto and Kiba to fall asleep pretty quickly.

When the academy was over, the 9 remained in the class until all of the other kids and Iruka sensei went out before starting their conversation.

"So…" Shikamaru started "anyone found something that could get us out of here?"

"You think?!" Kiba erupted. He seemed kind of irritated for some reason, if Naruto had to guess he would say it was the absence of Akamaru- who apparently, wasn't even born yet- rubbing off on him.

"Yeah!" Ino agreed "I didn't really have the opportunity with all the effort of trying to avoid my DEAD and I repeat DEAD father!"

It was clear from everyone's faces that they knew what she meant; most of them had a family member that had died in the future- but was alive now. Besides yesterday was way too stressful and full of surprises to think about anything other than dealing with it as it went. Trying to find a solution while doing it and trying to concentrate on anything other than what was happening at the second would have been extremely difficult.

"Well, I'll admit I haven't been able to search much either…" Shikamaru said in such a lazy tone it made the others wonder if he hadn't just been avoiding the extra work.

"Ano…." Hinata said, getting everyone's attention "I managed to ask my father about time related jutsu…" every face amongst the 9 lit up with hope that fell down when Hinata continued her sentence "but he didn't know much… only that time related jutsu usually had something to do with seals…" and their faces fell- they already knew that much.

"Well, at least you tried!" Kiba tried to cheer her up when he saw she was starting to get depressed over failing everyone.

"Indeed" Shino agreed "that is because none of the others here had tried such a thing yet"

"Thanks Kiba, Shino…"

"Well either way, it leaves us with close to nothing… if we want to get out of here will have to try and find a way out ourselves. Telling what happened can cause us too many trouble." Shikamaru concluded.

"Sasuke, shouldn't you try to find something out… they did use the sharingan so there could be a connection…" Naruto said and saw Choji nod in agreement as he spoke.

"You too Naruto- it was Kyubi's chakra that you used while charging at them wasn't it?" Choji said.

"Yeah, but I used the Hiraishin too, which is a time-space seal related nin-jutsu and unfortunately, I can't very well check a seal that I don't know. I don't even know how I can use it without the seal!"

"But didn't you train under Jiraya?" Sakura asked "he was a sealing master! Didn't he teach you anything?!"

"He only taught me the basic of the basic! Hiraishin is an advanced technique! I don't know anything about seals but the seal on my stomach anyways so don't bother with it! It's not like I have anybody to ask right now anyways you know…"

"Tch" all eyes were caught by the unexpected interference and turned to Sasuke- who looked unfazed as ever. Truthfully, since they weren't used to his presence and he had been so quiet over the conversation most of them forgot he was even there.

They also didn't know if to trust him yet- he had just gotten back with them on the final battle. And yet, even though he made his purpose of joining their side and reasons for doing so very clear, after almost 4 years of being a missing-nin, a threat and betrayer they couldn't quite believe him. only Naruto seemed to have full trust in him….

"Aren't you supposed to be an Uzumaki?" Sasuke asked teasingly "the Uzumaki where masters at sealing you know…" "-Yeah- but it's not like I can just ask them to teach me…. They're almost all dead the last time I checked!"

"Well, even if you can't ask them directly I might be able to help you get some answers…"

As a response, Naruto only looked at Sasuke questionably. With what must have been a very gullible and stupid expression since Sasuke muttered "baka" under his breath.

"Well, we'll leave it too later…" Shikamaru said. Murmuring "troublesome" in the spare second he had in between the sentences before continuing "I guess we should all just go to our homes for now and research it for real this time. If we want to go back we better find a way as fast as we can- before we change too much… we also can't meet every day after school- our parents will start getting suspicious if we come in late everyday…. We'll meet again in a week. Search well and keep a low profile until then."

Everyone nodded and turned to leave the class.

It was going to be a long week.

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**Sorry about all of the depression... it's going to be brighter next chapter!**

**Next chapter- what is Sasuke going to Show Naruto? How will they all go back? Will they even find a way back?**

**Read and find out =)**

**This is going to be a NaruHina story and hinata will be a main character once I finish setting the background I need for this story. **

**By the way- is anyone here for SasuSaku? I haven't really decided with whom to put Sasuke yet (or if to even per him up with somebody...) so I would like to hear who you think he should be with... I don't mind you offering gay pairings but not Naruto- he's Hinata's! **

**Till next update**

**N. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello everyone =) Thaks for whoever read the story. I finaly finished the third chapter. Yay =) I hope you'll like it and really apreciate if you'll give me some feedback too. Enjoy!**

**I don't own Naruto. **

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Ch3- The Library

"Oi, Sasuke!" Naruto called "where are we going?"

"You'll see when we get there…"

"When are we going to get there?"

"In a few minutes…" Sasuke was starting to get pissed.

"Yeah- but how many minutes?"

"Shut up dobe…."

He shut up - They were already running for about 10 minutes now and Naruto was starting to get bored...

Naruto was following Sasuke to the outskirts of Konoha, making sure not to be seen- if people saw him following Sasuke around town they might get suspicious and follow them too. Or worse! - They might think that he- the dangerous "Kyubi" was trying to hurt poor little Sasuke Uchiha! The thought made him chuckle.

He really did wonder where were they going though- he didn't know the area well… he had almost never been here before- the area wasn't very populated so pranks were no use here as a child and he couldn't remember any missions around those far parts of Konoha either.

The farther they were going the fewer houses there were and more ruins, until they got to where the area was practically all ruins crumbled on the floor. Almost no structure was standing but one short one. 'A temple' Naruto realized.

And surely enough, Sasuke stopped in front of it, waiting for Naruto to arrive.

"So this is the place?" Naruto asked, looking at the worn down building. It was quite a big structure, with a crumpling triangular roof, broken entrance door and a few steps leading to it, the Uzumaki swirl decorating the top of the once glamorous entrance.

Sasuke nodded

"What is this place?"

"A temple dobe…" Sasuke said rolling his eyes.

"I know that much!" Naruto said, insulted- maybe he wasn't the sharpest kunai around but he wasn't that dull!

"Ugh, it's an… Uzumaki temple. Let's go in." Sasuke already started to make his way towards the entrance- not bothering to wait for a reply.

Naruto followed him into the shrine silently. Of course he understood it was an Uzumaki temple but it was best not to start an argument right now… it wasn't like he was going to get any reply if he did.

The inside of the shrine was in just as bad of a shape as the outside. The walls we're full of cracks and the ceiling and floor full of holes. On the edge of the shrine was a stage and on the wall beyond it- masks, tens of creepy masks that gave Naruto the creeps. One mask in particular freaked Naruto out. It was even more frightening than Yamato's face. It had an evil face with an open mouth grin- sharp teeth visible, it had no eyebrows and had two big horns sticking out of its forehead.

Usually stuff like that didn't have much effect on Naruto, but this mask made him feel uneasy- as if he knew who's face it was and he knew it meant nothing good.

"Sasuke?" Naruto asked "what exactly is this place?"

"It's the Uzumaki clan's mask temple."

"And how do you know of it?" it didn't seem like the basterd was going to volunteer any information on his own.

"Orochimaru took us here after I revived him." Naruto gave him a look that said 'aren't you going to continue it?'

Sasuke sighed and went on "in order to revive the previous hokage we needed to get them out of the shinigami's stomach. That mask-" Sasuke pointed at the mask that gave Naruto the creeps earlier "-was the only way to do it. Afte-" "How?" Naruto demanded. Sasuke seemed to understand what he meant and went on.

"Well… you have to wear the mask" sounds easy so far…

"Summon the shinigami's spirit to take over your body…" not nice- but possible.

"And then cut open your stomach." At that point Naruto gave up on whatever idea he had.

"Anyways Naruto, you want to know what I found or don't you? If you'll continue asking questions like that I'm not going to tell you…"

"Yes…" Naruto said in a low tone- not feeling so great after being scolded by his rival, enemy and friend.

"Well, after we entered here with Orochimaru I activated my sharingan to take a better look at the jutsu he was performing, when I found something strange." Sasuke walked towards the wall across from the main door and put his hand on a specific point on the wall. The sharingan was now visible in his eyes.

"I found a seal… I can tell it's a space-time seal which means it must connect this place with another…" Naruto was listening carefully, making sure not to interrupt Sasuke this time.

"But since we didn't have much time to waste back then I didn't give it much attention… so I didn't get to check what's beyond at. This means that I don't know where this is going to take us any better than you do. Besides- it's an Uzumaki seal and an advanced one at that" Sasuke pressed some chakra into the seal to only make it barely visible. "-it will probably take quite a lot of chakra to activate- a chakra that you have." Sasuke said, with a tone that had something more than just indifference in it. 'Excitement?' Naruto thought 'maybe…'

Naruto was intrigued now- he too, wanted to know where that seal led. He nodded in understanding and reached the wall putting his hand on the seal as well. He trusted Sasuke's sharingan to know that the seal was still, indeed, complete and not flawed… 'Wait? Sharingan?'

"Um… Sasuke?"

"Yeah?"

"Er… I didn't really think of this before but, how come you've got the sharingan?"

"Ugh." Sasuke groaned in what must have been the 10th time that day "the sharingan wakes when an Uchiha undergoes the pain of losing a loved one or despair they awaken the sharingan due to a special chakra that is created in their brain. Extreme pain of loss- like in main and Obito's cases can awaken the mangekyo sharingan. Even though we traveled through time I still have memory of that pain and loss and the chakra that controls the sharingan that came with my consciousness here. But I don't have Itachi's eyes implanted in me and there for I do not have the eternal mangekyo- I need his eyes for that… don't worry," he added, noticing Naruto's expression "I have no intention of taking them from him…"

"I… I see…" Naruto replayed. He didn't know the sharingan were awoken that way. if pain was what needed to awaken the sharingan, Naruto would rather Sasuke to not have it at all… he didn't understand why it was taken as such a good thing even among the Uchiha themselves if pain- unbearable pain, was what needed to obtain it. Losing a loved one- Naruto would rather die than have that happen… at least now he understood why Sasuke thought that cutting his ties with people would make his stronger. If he understood right- the stronger the pain, the stronger the sharingan…

Naruto didn't like the idea.

"Anyway… are you going to do it or not?"

A smile made its way to Naruto's face, determination and curiosity taking hold in his eyes. "Let's go Sasuke!" he said and pushed a good amount of chakra into the seal, feeling a tag in his stomach as the world twirled around him.

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Hinata was sitting in the Hyuga library, books piled up on the table beside her. She went to the library right after she got home (there was a clan meeting so her father couldn't train her today) and started searching for information that might help. So far she found nothing.

All the books she managed to find about time travel and space-time seals were lacking and elementary, not to mention very boring… she had already went through over a dozen of them, and it was getting late.

Her eyes were tired and exhausted from the effort and her reading monotonic, waiting for something to catch her eye.

She finished going over the book and put it in the pile. 'One more… last one for the day…' she tried to encourage herself- she was tiered and utterly bored, if the books and scrolls were interesting she wouldn't have minded reading them that much…

She picked the next book up- "seals effect on chakra nature and chakra manipulation" it was an old book with an heavy cover and halfway rotting, yellow pages.

Hinata started reading the book… it didn't say anything more than the other books. She continued reading until something caught her eye. This was interesting… hinata read through the following pages, trying to understand if what she understood was correct. 'If it is true…' possibilities formed in her mind, she was going to have fun- a new justu was just what she needed.

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"Ugh" Naruto groaned as he finished puking on the cold floor. Traveling through the seal made him feel incredibly nauseas for some reason. Sasuke seemed to be suffering from the same problem too since barfing noise could be heard from across the room. surprisingly the seal didn't take that much of Naruto's charka so he wasn't as tired as he thought he would be.

"Sasuke?" Naruto asked when he could no longer hear barfing sounds "you okay?"

"Yeah" a reply came quickly enough "you?"

"Yeah" Naruto said "but Sasuke…."

"Yeah?"

"Where the fuck are we?"

"It seems that…" Sasuke looked across the organized maze of wooden shelves that were covered with thousands of books and said "we're in a library… it feels like it's underground too"

"Shit" Naruto said- he never really liked libraries… "I'm supposing it's not the Konoha library…"

Sasuke didn't answer. Instead he walked strait forwards and stood in front of what must have been the check stand once. He then took his hand and wiped some of the piled up dust off the side of the stand, revealing an Uzumaki swirl.

"No…" Sasuke said "this is probably the Uzumaki library… we might not even be close to Konoha right now. It also doesn't seem like anybody has been here for years"

"We'll… so what do we do now?" Naruto wondered.

"Easy- we try to find information about seals. We should find plenty- not only this is an Uzumaki library but it is also the library they chose to connect to their temple in Konoha, which means it must be important too."

"er… Sasuke… if you didn't notice we are in a huge library filled with like, 100,000 books- where are we even going to begin? I mean- this place is huge!"

"I know," Sasuke said "we'll have to just start with the basics…"

"And how do you plan on reading so many books?"

"Easy- I can read about ten times faster than a normal person with the sharingan, so no problem there. How do you plan on keeping up?"

"Well…" Naruto thought "I guess I can try and use my kage bunshin… I never tried it before but everything that they experience goes to me, information too. So maybe it can work here as well…"

"hn" Sasuke smiled "then I think we should get started."

"Alright then! Tajuu kage bunshin no jutsu!" Naruto wouldn't normally be so enthusiastic about reading but this time, getting into it with Sasuke, feeling like they are friends again, like he got his brother back- he didn't mind it one bit.

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Naruto felt like he's brain was going to melt. There were too many kanji in those books and Naruto, that was never much of a reader, could barely understand the complicated text as it was.

Sealing was not easy to learn. So far, Naruto had only touched the least complicated books on this library and he already needed a dictionary to understand what they were saying.

Sasuke had gone back to his compound through a reverse seal they found since it was getting late and he didn't want his parent to start to worry about him. Also, he wanted to check if he could find anything new about the sharingan.

Fortunately or not- Naruto did not have such restrictions. Even if he were to spend his entire night here no one would probably notice. So he stayed.

Naruto figured it was probably dark out by now. His stomach told him it was time for dinner too, so he decided to release the jutsu and go back home for some nice dinner and along sleep.

Naruto put his hands together and released the jutsu, dispelling the thousand clones and receiving all the information they gathered at once. A massive headache and a wave of exhaustion fell on him. 'Shit! I forgot about the backlash!" Naruto thought frantically as he collapsed to the floor, cradling his head in pain, realizing he's not going to get any dinner tonight and then the darkness took over and he lost consciousness.

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Naruto woke up feeling like shit. His head hurt, his back hurt (probably from sleeping on the floor…) and even after all the time he must have slept he still felt tired.

The first thing he realized was how unfamiliar the place he was in was. 'Yeah, that's right… I passed out after releasing the jutsu. God, I wonder how much time I slept, my back feels like crap…'

The second thing Naruto realized was that the bunshin trick actually worked- he could locate a massive amount of information about seals that he now knew. It had basic hand seals and advanced hand seals, the propose and meaning of each seal too. He had information about explosion paper seals, basic sealing formulas and even some basic techniques involving seals and sealing and he had gotten all of it down and farther more understood all of it in just one night. When all of the information was spread around between his clones he didn't understand a thing, but once all of it came back to the original him, pieces of information just seemed to connect and started to make sense. Naruto didn't really understand how come he only understood it as a whole but he was so glad to even understand the slightest of it that he decided to not bother with it and just let it be. If it worked, who was he to complain?

Naruto stretched out, hearing knacks come from his back. He groaned painfully.

He decided it was probably best that he'll go back to the village now. He should probably go to the academy too… 'And get some ramen' he thought happily.

Naruto went to the seal and pressed chakra into it, he felt the world twist around him again and the next thing he knew, he was back in the Uzumaki temple in Konoha.

He was nauseas again, but it wasn't as strong as the first time… he figured the travel was probably just something you needed to get used too.

Naruto got up on his feet and went out the temple. Seeing how high the sun was he realized it must be noon already. 'Shit' he thought 'just how much time was I out?!' he missed the academy, and now Iruka was going to kill him. Naruto gulped loudly.

Having nothing else to do, since the academy was probably over by now, Naruto decided to simply go home and have some nice, hot, cup ramen. To the thought he heard his stomach growl- he hadn't eaten since lunch of the day before, probably over 24 hours. 'I need a meal' he thought miserably and got off to him home.

As he got to the more crowded parts of Konoha he could notice the peoples' glares. He really hated those cold, hateful glares. He didn't miss them at all when they were gone. He really didn't want them now either.

He took the rooftops as a shortcut to his house- hoping to avoid as many people as possible.

He entered his apartment and took out one of the cupped ramen, pored hot water into it, waited 3 minutes and then ate it at top speed. The ramen was delicious; of course, he was so hungry that he doubted anything would taste bad by that point.

Finally full, Naruto decided to take an afternoon nap. He lied on his bed and fell asleep.

The next time he woke, he felt refreshed and energetic. He decided to go pull some pranks since he figured that was what his younger self would probably do. Nothing big though, he didn't want to get to much attention. Also, he figured that his 6 year old self wouldn't be able to pull something big anyways.

He would simply go and paint some graffiti on a shop he remembered vandalizing before. If he only pulled pranks he already pulled as a child less would change too, right?

He got out of his apartment, s paint bucket and a brush in hand and headed towards the specific shop.

At first it was all fine- he wasn't spotted by any ninja or citizen and started painting the wall with sentences such as "Naruto the no.1 hokage candidate!" and "Naruto Uzumaki rules!"

And all was fine- until he was busted by the shop owner.

Naruto managed to escape before he was caught and hid in a narrow ally where he knew the shinobi chasing him would not spot him.

But, it was really weird. Naruto didn't remember getting caught the first time he performed that prank. 'Oh… that's right!' He remembered the last time he checked that the shop keeper was not in before starting. 'Damn!' he thought. He wasn't being careful enough. The last time he remembered the council had even opened an investigation to figure out if it was really him who did it- since that time he didn't mention his name either. That meant there was no investigation now either- what else did he change? He didn't know for certain if he just changed something, but even the possibility made him nerves. It also meant that keeping things from changing completely was not possible- if pulling a prank a bit differently or forgetting about a prank he had already pulled could actually change something that meant that other small things could cause a change too.

It all led Naruto to one conclusion- if every small detail, as unimportant as it seemed could change something in the future, than nothing was safe, nothing was certain. They might have already changed too much to go back to their time as it was just by being there. And Naruto did not like that possibility.

Now Naruto knew what he had to do. He went back to his apartment and packed some cup ramen, water and snacks into a bag and headed out to the temple.

Naruto knew that this was his last chance- entering the library he created a thousand clones and started researching again. Yes- even if he didn't get any sleep, he would simple have to find an answer tonight, or else it would be too late.

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'Naruto wasn't in the academy today' Hinata thought to herself as she washed her body and shampooed her short, indigo hair. She wondered why. She knew it was ridicules, since Naruto was so strong, but among other possibilities she also worried something bad had happened to him. It was probably not it though…

Hinata's thoughts began to wonder to other places. She thought of the strange book she had found the day before. She continued reading it after she came back from the academy with more care. She found some really interesting stuff- things that she knew would be amazing if she could pull them- and she certainly decided on trying them. But now wasn't the time- after she went over the book once more to relax he thoughts and enthusiasm, she went back to the rest of the time related books. She finished all of them this time but, unfortunately, found nothing.

She wondered how the others were doing. Maybe they had already found something that could take them back. Though, she doubted that possibility.

Hinata swiftly went out of the shower and into her room. If she couldn't find anything it just meant that she didn't try hard enough. She'll just look harder tomorrow, she decided. But for that she needed energy, and for energy she needed sleep, and for sleep- she needed to clam her enthusiasm down. So Hinata took her favorite new book, lie in bed and read until her eyes went blurry and tired, falling into sleep as thoughts of the new technique were flowing through her head.

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**So...? How was it? I hope you liked it =) Please review and come back next time.**

**N. **


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello everyone =) **

**I'm sorry it took me this long to update... I have a lot of exams in school this time of the year- around a big 1 per week maybe...**

**I know that last chapter was probably not my best, I wasn't very satisfied with it... I also had a writer's block... But it was necessary for the rest of the story to progress. This chap I like more =) It came more easily to me too.**

**Thanks again for you all for reviewing and favoriting and following I really appreciate it.**

**As for the time line- maybe small details would change at first but the big ones would probably change. But thats only pre time-skip... after that it's a surprise ;)**

**I hope you'll enjoy.**

**I don't own Naruto.**

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**Chapter 4 - ways**

Naruto's eyes went blurry against the paper. He was up reading all night and tiredness was starting to really take hold on him now.

By his time perception, Naruto guessed it was probably morning already. Though, he found reading so utterly boring that his time perception might not be too reliable.

Naruto managed to find a few new tricks other than tricks related to sealing during this research. Things such as the fact that if you dispel you clones a few at a time, instead of all at once, the back lash is smaller. Who would have thought? Also, releasing them this way helps absorb the information better and puts the fragments of information into place easier.

So now, instead of dispelling all of the clones at once, Naruto simply dispelled them fifty at a time. He also replaced the ones he released with new ones right away. It proved to be quite affective.

In fact even Kurama helped some during the night- giving Naruto small quantities of chakra to keep him from falling asleep. Since Naruto's relationship with the fox was quite new he didn't really expect any volunteered help. So getting any help at all was a nice surprise.

By the time morning came Naruto realized that he won't be going to the academy this day as well. He felt like he was almost there- almost at the answer. But sadly, he figured that even if he found a way back, at the level the jutsu was going to be, there was no guarantee that Naruto would be able to learn how to perform it in a short enough period of time. That possibility worried him immensely.

So far Naruto got the general idea of time-space seals, mind seals and seals that were meant to… how to put it? Seal things…

He realized that he could go in two directions in order to solve their problem- either sending their soul through time into the future via a space-time seal, or using a mind seal to seal the future memories forever or for a certain period of time.

With his current amount of experience they took and knowledge Naruto had, the two ways seemed equally impossible right now.

All in all- the possibility of Naruto being able to perform them was not good.

Naruto clenched his teeth and in attempt to try and speed the process up out of impatience, Naruto released fifty of his clones. The information that he got only made him more depressed. That was probably because he had already read the same information in other sources already ten times!

One disadvantage the system had, was that his clones only knew what he knew when he created them. That meant that when he created a thousand clones, some of them could easily end up reading about the exact same subject in different books. After he created new clones, they would just go and search for new material if some of the books the clones before them were reading were overlapping with information he got beforehand. But until he dispelled the clones to create new ones, a lot of them were spending precious time reading about the exact same thing.

**(A\N: to make things clear- Naruto knows one thing he creates a mass of bunshin the bunshin might start reading the same stuff when Naruto releases a group of bunshin he gets info he then replaces them he dispels another group that might hold the same information as the ones before them the new bunshin he creates know not to read those exact same things again. I hope it's clear now =) in case I didn't make it clear enough in the paragraph…)**

So by releasing those clones Naruto only felt like he was wasting more time.

He was also working on the books by a specific order. A very simple one really- start from what's easy and continue to what's hard. That approved to be very efficient since, not only the books were divided to sections by difficulty, but Naruto also found out (the hard way) that in you start from advanced stuff only to get hold of the more advanced techniques- you'll end up not understanding a thing!

It was like telling a person that never heard of chakra to create a rasengan without any previous instructions. It wasn't logical or possible.

So now Naruto had a method that was actually proving itself to work, a library full of knowledge and even solutions as to how to get them back. The only thing he didn't have was time- and time was a precious ingredient right now. So Naruto was going to exploit every second of it. That meant he was not going to stop looking for the answer until he dropped unconscious. He meant it- and Naruto doesn't go back on what he says.

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It was the middle of the night, when Sasuke finally managed to sneak out of his house and make it back to the Uzumaki library.

The said library seemed like it had been run through by a thousand Narutos- which it probably was. The books were scattered all around the floor, arranged in piles or simply thrown into them. Naruto could have barley been spotted, stuck beneath a pile of books, fast asleep.

'What a dobe…' Sasuke thought 'working himself like that.'

Sasuke shoved the books that were on top of Naruto to the side and tapped him on the shoulder, waking him up. He put his indifferent expression on.

"Naruto, time to wake up- you can't lie on the floor all day long." Naruto didn't move. Sasuke knew it would probably take more than that to wake the hopeless blond and reached for his bag to take out his secret weapon. "I brought ramen" he said.

It didn't even take a second before the dobe was on his feet, holding the cup ramen he had managed to snatch from Sasuke triumphal.

Naruto then looked back to where Sasuke was standing and looked at him with a dumb expression. "Hi Sasuke," He said "thanks for the ramen."

"Shut up dobe…" Sasuke pleaded.

After finally calmed down they sat down and ate. Naruto- his ramen, and Sasuke, a few freshly cut tomatoes.

Truth be told, Sasuke didn't really hate the dobe. It was just that Naruto often annoyed him. It was either the way he had used to make him feel week and inferior or how dumb and happy and carefree he acted. Even when like Sasuke- he didn't have any family left. It was simply annoying.

But Sasuke did have a connection with him. Before he had left Konoha and severed that tie, Naruto was his best friend- his rival. The only person Sasuke could really trust- the person who was also the closest to understanding him and his pain.

After he had left though, they became enemies. Naruto simply became a part of the shadow that was what he once was.

But it seemed that Sasuke was never really able to sever his tie with Naruto. When he arrived to the battlefield that day, Naruto somehow knew- he knew Sasuke was there to join them. He didn't even suspect him for a second –even when everyone else objected to letting him join the fight immensely. Even then Naruto simply trusted him and accepted him back as a comrade and a friend. It seemed that too Naruto it had been like the order was restored - he brought him- Sasuke, the person he had considered not only a friend but a brother- back. He stayed true to his word and kept his promise to Sakura and to himself.

And Sasuke- even with all of the hate and pain he contained- found that hating Naruto after he accepted him in such way, hard. Sasuke realized that the bond they had once shared was back. And this time he was determined not to cut his bonds so quickly.

This time- whether they would stay here or go back, Sasuke was not going to sever his ties forcefully again. He was not going to inflict on himself more pain. And if that meant tolerating a few irritating traits his friend possessed in order to keep the friend himself- Sasuke would gladly do it.

He was no longer the person he once was, and he was never going back to being him either.

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After Naruto and Sasuke finished their meal, they decided they should probably inform each other with their new found information.

As far as Naruto understood Sasuke did manage to find something new- even if barley. Apparently, trying to sneak into a basement that held almost all of the Uchiha secrets and thus was heavily guarded was not a very simple or easy task. Even for Sasuke.

As Naruto and Sasuke sat down and updated each other about the new founding they also seemed to get a better understanding of exactly why they ended up in the past.

The theory they developed was that Naruto's hiraishin collided with the casting of the genjutsu. That meant that instead of creating a fake reality like it was supposed to- the genjutsu was absorbed into the space time fraction that the hiraishin caused and brought the time back- making the laps real. It also made it bigger since all of the chakra that was meant for the immense genjutsu was observed into the time fraction. All that- added with the level of the jutsu and the Kyubi and jubi chakra, only made the travel more efficient.

Naruto and Sasuke also figured that since genjutsu doesn't affect the actual body and only the chakra within it, it caused only the chakra and memories come with them back. That meant that unlike the hiraishin- that could move both the physical body and the chakra using the friction- the result of the combination was that the process of both jutsu was interrupted and thus caused a much greater leap, but left the physical body behind.

Furthermore, after some more thinking on Naruto's part, he realized that the ones that came with him here we're the only ones still protected by his chakra when the jutsu collided- which connected them to him and pulled them into the modified hiraishin as well. All the others were either dead of unconscious and there for, did not need his protection (or already dead and reanimated so his protection didn't really matter… ahm- previous hokage)

Unfortunately, now that they knew why exactly they were here, Naruto could also assess what exactly needed to be done in order to come back. He now had the options in hand- but he sure didn't like them. Or their odds to be more exact.

He also had to inform everyone- and soon. There was no way he could wait four more days to tell them. He'll have to do that tomorrow.

Now he'll just have to make sure those ways were really possible- and that meant… yes! You guessed right- more research! But this time Naruto was making sure Sasuke was helping too- which meant keeping the poor boy with him until sunrise. They were not going to get any sleep tonight.

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The next day Naruto and Sasuke made it to the academy right in time for the bell. Both looked like zombies. Their eyes were dump, tired and red. It was scary to even look at them.

And as everyone quickly found out- a tired Sasuke was a grumpy Sasuke, and a grumpy Sasuke was not nice to be around.

No one even said anything when Naruto and Sasuke sat next to each other out of fear that they might be coldly murdered by the said two.

Luckily for the rookie nine that had been summoned to meet them after school was over, Sasuke and Naruto both managed to get some sleep during Iruka's lesson, so by the time the school ended and they all rounded up to figure out what was it that Naruto wanted to tell them, Sasuke was much calmer.

The conversation started quite awkward, with Naruto trying to explain why exactly he called them all for the talk half a week before what they had originally set.

It was followed by Naruto explaining them what he and Sasuke figured out- why they even got to the past in the first place. And finally followed by Naruto's surprisingly clever solutions he found to their situation.

It was either to put a seal on their memories- making them remember only the events that they experience up until they were six years old. According to Naruto, this was the better and safer option. As even though it had its risks such as the seal breaking and the memories slipping back, or Naruto messing up and accidentally sealing all of the memories or only some of the ones he had too, the other option was much worse in comparison to what could go wrong.

As Naruto explained, sending only chakra and memories – or only the spiritual aspect of a person to be more exact- was possible and not even that complicated, but parting the human "soul" would not be advisable.

As a rule each part – both spiritual and physical- must remain as a whole. You cannot send a body part through time (space was slightly different) and expect yourself to live as a whole. In such way you cannot sent only a part of you entity (the spiritual part combined with your thoughts and memories). Unlike the physical part that can live torn and the chakra that is a combination of the two and thus has different qualities, the spiritual part can't be sent in parts.

Naruto and the others came back to this time with only their spiritual part intact- but those parts were full, they were whole. If Naruto tried to send only a part of a person's spiritual aspect- memory, energy and all- there was a risk of the person losing his sanity or even dying from the ripping of his "soul". In fact, the way to reanimate the dead was merely summoning their spiritual expect into a fake body. The body could not move unless the entire entity was in it either.

That meant that Naruto would have to send the entire soul to the future- what would probably live the physical body in a comatose state until the time the soul came back to the body- and Naruto couldn't afford the gamble on the odds that it would actually cause that.

That meant that there was really only one option available- sealing the memories. The seal would be designed so that it will wear off in ten years time and thus grant them all their memories back when they're sixteen again.

Naruto finished explaining the options and looked forwards to everyone's reaction.

"Is it really possible?" Choji asked- being the first to speak.

"Yes" Naruto answered simply "but it might take me time to master the seal to a degree that I know that it won't be harmful to any of you guys…"

"How much time?" Ino asked.

'Too much time…' Naruto thought bitterly "about a month or two if I give it my all" he said, looking downward at the ground.

"Two months?!" Ino erupted. "It's too long- I already noticed things changing! There's no way-" "I know!" you think I don't know that?! But truth is we don't have any other option! What do suggest we do then?"

"Nothing" everyone turned towards the one who spoke. He sat lazily on a class table wearing a sealed expression on his face- revealing as little as possible of his emotions as he spoke. "If it will take too long to complete the jutsu and we end up staying for too long and change too much for things to go back to the way they did, we might as well stay."

"What was that Sasuke?!" Kiba barked "do you even know what you're saying? The longer we stay the more that will change! Or did you not understand that?"

"And what's exactly wrong with a change?" Sasuke jumped of the table and walked towards the rest of the gang "as far as I can recall, the world wasn't exactly in what you would call a 'good state' when we left it. It was actually in a pretty bad state. Besides, in the time you all want to get back to, all that is waiting us are the dead. The dead and destruction. If you're asking me I'd say it's better to stay and try to prevent the war form happening all over again and all of those people from dying." Sasuke looked at every single one of his comrades "or do you rather 'sit on the side' and watch as it all happens again all over again with that seal of yours- watch every single person die all over again. I don't know what about you- but if going back is so damn complicated, maybe it's just a sign that we need to stay here and make a change, stay here and fight."

Sasuke paced out of the class- angrily sliding the door behind him.

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They environment turned dark and silent after Sasuke left the class.

No one seemed to be able to speak for quite some time and the tension was nerve eating.

When they finally managed to get a hold back from their intense shock it was Shikamaru who first spoke; "he's right" was all he said.

All of the heads in the room turned to him. "Sealing our memories and going through this life all over again- not doing anything when our friends die, even though we can save them… I don't think it's right to do that. The worst part will be that once the seals are released will remember everything from the previous time too. I bet will end up wishing we had used this opportunity and saved them."

"While that might be true" Sakura said "every single person we know, that will die previous to when he originally did or that wasn't originally supposed to die and will, will clearly be solely our responsibility and fault. And that's a lot to deal with. As Shikamaru said- we can save people but we can also kill them… I don't mean kill "kill" but that our presence here- such as being the cause of life being saved, can also be a cause of death…"

"Yeah…" Naruto agreed. "But what if we change things the wrong way and a lot more people end up dying? What if we'll just make it all worse? I think it might be better if we don't get involved if-" "Naruto kun!" Hinata interrupted "since when were you a person that thinks to negatively? Didn't you always take that chance no matter the risk as long as there was a chance to succeed? Didn't you always try you're hardest to change for good? To create chances for other things to change too? We have a chance now! A chance to save everyone. A chance for them to live… a chance for all of the shinobi to live… for Ino and Shikamarus' dads to live… for lee-san and tenten-san to live? A chance for Neji nii-san to live? And yet you…" Hinata's words were interrupted by her sobbing.

Every single one of the other seven was in shock, raw pain stretched on their faces as the names of their loved ones and friends that had died in the war were spoken.

"I'm sorry" Naruto said. He knew the pain of losing them- he did lose them! And now he had a chance to get them all back! Why is he hesitating 'maybe because you still have something to lose…' he thought to himself. It was true- all of his friends that came with him here were still alive. There was no guarantee they would live if they stay and try to change things. And yet hinata was right- he had a chance. Now he just had to make sure to make the most out of this chance, this opportunity. He will save his friends! **'that's the way kid!'** he heard Kurama cheer in his mind.

"We'll than…" he said, a familiar gleam returning to his eyes."I guess we better make a plan- we need to find a way to save our friends, our families and this world."

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When hinata arrived to her clan compound she didn't bother to even great her parents and went straight to her room.

She didn't believe she actually broke down in such way in front of Naruto. She didn't believe Naruto acted in such a way in front of them all- even if he came to in the end…

After Naruto had made his declaration every single one of the remaining seven pretty much went into another initial shock. Although they did all think of the words deep inside, actually hearing Naruto declare that that was the course they were going to choose was not something they were mentally prepared to.

They had all decided they would meet in the date they had originally sat to have the conversation in and discuss what would be the ground rules. Until then, they would stick to their current way of acting and try to not change a thing.

Much to his annoyance- Naruto was the one sent to chase after Sasuke, as he didn't have to hurry back home to worried parents. And much to her "delight"- Sakura was the one chosen into persuading him to actually follow his role, which resulted in a pretty hurtful experience on Naruto's part. Luckily, there were no arguments and complaints about the given task afterwards. Remembering the scenario made hinata giggle and break out of her previously darkened mood.

At least their decision to stay meant that there was no more research. To be truthful, Hinata didn't really hate the research. But reading every single day hours upon hours even to the little hours of the night did take its toll on her- she noticed to dark circles around her eyes and how pale her skin had become. Furthermore, in the past week she often found herself tired and even exhausted- which made it hard for her to concentrate and remain alert.

If there was one thing that she was going to do tonight, it was sleeping. For real this time- a good nine-ten hour sleep. That was what she needed. But it was only noon now, and as much as hinata wanted to sleep she knew it wasn't the time. It was better that she will wait until night.

Now was the time to face her parents again, her mother especially. And this time, she had to face them knowing she was going to stay. This time she is going to look at them as if they are truly real- not just temporary parents who were simply there because of some misfortunate circumstances. Now they were there and they were real. And from this point on they were going to be her parents. Now the ones on her time line were simply a memory.

Hinata stepped out form her room. And for maybe the first time in her life, she felt complete again. Even if scared, terrified and as insecure as she ever was, she at least had the confidence in one thing- her family was whole again, it was full again. And this time she was going to do everything right. She wasn't going to let anyone break what she had just gotten back. Just no way in hell.

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Naruto was lying in bed and preparing to go to sleep for the first time in what must have been days.

After he managed to get Sasuke's attention by throwing rocks at his window and explained to him what the group's decision was and what they intended to do he went straight back to his apartment.

Sasuke seemed to be in a better mood after hearing that they were going to stay and maybe even change things. At least Naruto thought so- reading Sasuke was like trying to touch your elbow with your tongue to Naruto, In other words- nearly impossible. Although, if that was the case Naruto was pretty sure Orochimaru could do it- his tongue was just so damn long! 'And creepy…' Naruto quickly shook away the thoughts. Thinking on Orochimaru's tongue was not something he was ever going to repeat doing.

Instead, he decided to turn his thoughts to some more argent business (not that Orochimaru was not an argent business)- like what exactly was he going to do from now on.

Naruto wasn't a complete idiot, he knew that in order to make a change and save his friends like he intended to he was going to need to get stronger. A lot stronger. He was going to need to be strong enough to face pain again, to face Akatsuki, to face Obito and Madara. He needed to get the strength to prevent the war and the rise of the jubi from ever happening. And for doing that he'll also need a plan, right now he didn't have a clue as to how he was going to prevent those things from ever happening. As to them- consulting Shikamaru would probably best.

But thankfully, Naruto did know how to get stronger. This time, instead of only training his boding and working on his chakra control and the rasengan he was going to expand his jutsu arsenal too.

He did have the means to do it after all- it seemed that the library simply held the solutions to all his problems. Naruto knew that whatever his friends and himself would come up with, the upcoming years are going to be busy. But this time they will be ready for whatever the world will decide to throw on them. Naruto would make sure they will.

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**How was it? I hope you enjoyed it =)**

**Thanks for reading. Please review...**

**N. **


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